189 people send gov't letters on effect of IAST

Nearly 200 West Philadelphians and University members have sent letters to the U.S. Air Force to discuss the impact that the proposed Institute for Advanced Science and Technology will have on the area, Air Force spokesperson Jane Knowlton said yesterday. But none of the 189 letter-writers -- eight of whom specified that they were affiliated with the University -- brought up new issues, Knowlton said. "Basically all of the letters we have received so far raise issues that were brought up at the scoping meeting [in August] or elaborations of that," Knowlton said. The government is soliciting letters for an environmental impact study it is required to conduct before it can tear down historic Smith Hall to make room for the new laboratory facility. Gathering community input is the first step of the study which will probably be completed next summer. History and Sociology of Science graduate student Elizabeth Hunt said yesterday that regardless of what the letters said, the number of responses the Air Force received indicates that a large part of the community feels strongly about the issue. "They're not looking for new ideas, they're looking for community concerns," Hunt said. Hunt, who has been actively opposed to the razing of Smith Hall for the past two years, said she sent a letter herself. The Air Force initially set September 11 as a deadline for comments, but extended it to October 1 in response to student and faculty requests for more time. The government received 13 letters by the original deadline and 176 by October 1, Knowlton said. "Because the Air Force Environmental Analysis is ongoing, all the letters will be considered," Knowlton said. Although only eight of the letters stated they were from people affiliated with the University, Knowlton said other letters may have been written by people who did not identify themselves as such. "A number of students had written these letters, they simply didn't identify themselves as students," Hunt said. "I didn't identify myself as a student." "If I were to take a wild stab at it, my guess would be something on the order of 30 to 40 percent [of the letters came from] people who have any affiliation with the University," said graduate H & SS student Mark Hamel. Most of the letters -- 136 -- were a form letter with "no letterhead on it to identify it," Knowlton said. The Penn Coalition for Science in the Public Interest, an organization which opposes the building of the IAST, wrote the letter and distributed it to different groups which had their members sign it, said Hamel, who is a member of the group. The organization did not put its name on the letter because several different groups distributed it. "The form letter was intended to be something for people to sign and address if they didn't have time to write their own," Hamel said. Some people also used the form letter as a base for writing their own letters, Hamel said. The form letter posed a number of questions about the materials to be used in the IAST, the risks associated with them and what emergency precautions have been planned. The letter asked about past safety records of the Chemistry Department and other departments that would move into the IAST. The letter also questioned why the University plans to build on the current site of Smith Hall. The other letters were from private citizens and community groups, such as the Spruce Hill Community Association and the Philadelphia Historical Commission, Knowlton said. The letter-writers mainly expressed concern about destroying a historic building, hazardous waste disposal and the appropriateness of defense-funded research, Knowlton said, adding that this concern is misplaced because the Air Force is partially funding the construction of the IAST, but has not committed to funding any research. "Not all [of the letters] are in opposition to the proposal," Knowlton said. "We've received five letters in support of the proposal. We've had a few letters which suggested alternative sites, [and] some which requested information."

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